20080630

DEBKAfile’s Iranian sources report that an explosion Monday, June 30, at Bidganeh near the town of Shahriar 40 kilometers east of Tehran occurred at a military installation, not a civilian building as Tehran claimed.
At first, the Iranian authorities reported 15 people were killed, correcting this later to no casualties. The precise function of the targeted facility is not known. While Iran claimed the blast was caused by a gas leak, Western military sources are skeptical and believe the authorities are trying to cover up some sort of sabotage.
In separate news, Iran sentenced an Iranian electronics distributor to death for allegedly spying for Israel.

Ali Ashtari, 43, of Tehran, who was found guilty of spying for the “Zionist regime” for money, may appeal the death sentence handed down by a Iranian Revolutionary Court Monday, June 30, the Fars news agency reports.
According to his “confession,” Ashtari was a salesman of telecoms equipment which he used to help the Israeli Mossad access information from Iranian officials. He is said to have been given $50,000 to buy Internet cables and satellite phones and then sell them to “special customers” to enable Israel to hack into their communications.

The condemned man is cited as admitting he had meetings in Thailand, Turkey and Switzerland with Mossad agents “Jacques, Charles and Tony,” who gave him equipment including a laptop for sending encrypted emails.
DEBKAfile’s Iranian sources report Iranian official circles have beome obsessed with suspicions of Israeli and American undercover infiltrators preparing impending attacks on Iran’s nuclear facilities. There have been claims in the past of spies hiding in strategic places ready to guide incoming heavy American bombers to targeting those facilities. Iran also fears enemy agents have penetrated its nuclear research centers to gather “crucial” strategic data.
These alarms have raised concerns for the safety of the 4,000-years old Jewish community of Iran, whose numbers have dwindled to 17,000 to 20,000.

20080626

BBC World's "This World" addressed the free-world's threat of "imagine a world without Zionism," Islamic-imperialist, Iran's developing nuclear weapons in 2006. It's still essential viewing. (Parts 2 through 6 are accessible through the on-screen menu appearing at the end of Part 1. Courtesy Dat1111 on LiveLeak).

Commenting on his TV interview that has received rave reviews from Israel-lovers the world because of its forcefulness, Bar Ilan University political scientist Dr. Mordechai Kedar responded to the al-Jazeera interviewer's chiding about Jerusalem on live television:

"They did not expect me to take the discussion to history and especially not to religion," Kedar told Israel National News. But discuss religion he did in the above video, reminding his interviewer that Jerusalem was not mentioned even once in the Koran and saying directly, in fluent Arabic, that, "Jerusalem is not on the negotiating table," and that "Jerusalem belongs to the Jews, period."

"This was very aggravating" for the Al-Jazeera interviewer, Kedar explained, "because in the Islamic view, Islam came into the world to replace Judaism and Christianity, not to live side by side with them. And here, all of a sudden, the Jews are coming from exile and building their state again and (G-d forbid) they also regained Jerusalem!"

Judaism is thus regaining its meaning, and Islam is challenged by this, the Bar-Ilan professor explained. "The mere existence of the State of Israel and the fact that we are in Jerusalem is some kind of challenge to the legitimacy of Islam in their eyes," Kedar explained.

Prof. Kedar's story runs from 1:55 to 6:37 of the video program.

The Miriam-Webster Dictionary clarifies the misconception that 'propaganda' equates lying. It defines propaganda as: "the spreading of ideas, information, or rumor for the purpose of helping or injuring an institution, a cause, or a person," and "ideas, facts, or allegations spread deliberately to further one's cause or to damage an opposing cause; also : a public action having such an effect."

Prof. Kedar feels that Israel is losing the media war because the government failed to prioritize the value of arguing its case directly around the globe.

"This is not hasbara. This is a battle. A battle for the Arab heart. Which Israel, apparently, is losing because Israel gave up on the main tool which would have served it in this battle: which is an independent, Israeli, Zionist Satellite Channel in Arabic. This is a very hard battle. However, there are many Arabs who would listen to Israelis and would consider, maybe, changing their views- and they are not carried away by Arab propaganda."

DemoCast's original coverage of Prof. Kedar's al-Jazeera interview can be viewed here.

20080623

In 1945 there were up to one million Jews living in the Middle East and North Africa outside the Palestine Mandate - many living in communities dating back more than three millennia. Today, there are several thousand.

Who are these Jews? What precipitated their mass-exodus in the 20th century? Where did they go? And why don't we know their stories?

The first ever hearing in the British Parliament on the subject of Jewish refugees from Arab countries will take place on Tuesday, June 24, 2008, 7:00-9:00 pm in the House of Lords.

The Jerusalem Post's Ashley Perry has an excellent article on the eve of the first British Parliamentary hearing on the Arab expulsion of their indigenous Jewish peoples.

"Those who claim Israel carried out ethnic cleansing of Arabs can point to no official command to that effect. Jewish ethnic cleansing from Arab lands, on the other hand, was often official state policy.

Jews were formally expelled from many areas in the Arab world. The Arab League released a statement urging Arab governments to facilitate the exit of Jews from Arab countries, a resolution which was carried out through a series of punitive measures and discriminatory decrees that made it untenable for Jews to remain in their native lands."

When the issue of 'refugees' is raised within the context of the Middle East, people invariably refer only to 'Palestinian refugees'. Neither the mass violations of human rights, nor the displacement of Jews from Arab countries, has ever been adequately addressed by the international community. A Joint Briefing will underscore that two refugee populations emerged as a result of the Arab-Israeli conflict; and will assess the most appropriate role that the UK should play in seeking to resolve issues affecting all Middle East refugees.

Featured speakers will include renowned historian Sir Martin Gilbert who will speak on the "Historical Narrative and the UK's Response to Middle East Refugees" and former Canadian Minister of Justice, The Hon. Irwin Cotler, MP who will speak on" International Law and Middle East Refugees." Two former refugees will testify on their flight from Iraq and Egypt and their resettlement in the UK.

Convened by Labour MP John Mann and Lord Anderson of Swansea, this Joint Briefing is being organized by Justice for Jews from Arab Countries (JJAC) in association with the Board of Deputies of British Jews.

Recipient of Best Documentary Award from Spain's Marbella Film Festival, "The Forgotten Refugees" (produced by Boston's The David Project) depicts the mass exodus of Jews from Arab countries and Iran and its effects.

US Pentagon sources report that more than 100 Air Force F-16 and F-15 fighters participated in the maneuver over the eastern Mediterranean and Greece in the first week of June. The maneuver included helicopters used for rescuing downed pilots and refueling tankers. They flew 1,440 km, roughly the distance between Israel and the Iranian uranium enrichment plant at Natanz.

Israel officials declined to comment on the exercise, the IDF saying only that the air force trains regularly for various missions in order to meet the challenges posed by the threats facing Israel. Israel must be ready for a possible war with Iran in the near future. This conflict could erupt on three additional fronts, Syria, Hezballah and Hamas.

Of interest, too, is the probable motive behind the US Defense Department’s leak to the world media of the Israel Air Force maneuver and its presentation as an exercise to simulate an attack on Iran.

According to DEBKAfile’s informants, US defense secretary Robert Gates is adamantly opposed to American military action against Iran’s nuclear facilities and even more so to Israel going it alone, which this publicity was intended to pre-empt.

Why? Is the Bush administration, fresh from promising their defense support at the Knesset just weeks ago, concerned about perceived Republican political liability for providing Iraqi airspace to Israeli jets prior to Election Day? Or are they hoping to leave a clean record until the Bush regime has departed the White House, thwarting the Israelis until the next administration in late January? Any other ideas?

DEBKAfile’s military sources report that an oil price surge of 5 percent to $135.92 was triggered by the report leaked by US government officials of an Israeli air force drill over Greece for an apparent strike against Iran, Friday, June 20. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ordered a war alert in the Revolutionary Guards and armed forces, with the Israeli and US Gulf forces following suit.Tehran made no immediate comment, while Iranian leaders were reported puzzled by the Bush administration’s motives in leaking the report to the New York Times.

The most extreme reaction came from the UN nuclear watchdog’s director Mohamad ElBaradei, who threatened to resign if there was a military strike on Iran, warning such an attack would turn the region into a “fireball.”

“A military strike would be worse than anything possible,” he warned. “..it will mean that Iran, if it is not already making nuclear weapons, will launch a crash course to build them…”

Russian foreign minister Sergei Ivanov maintained that neither Israel nor the United States had produced proof that Iran was developing nuclear weapons and said the issue must be dealt with by diplomacy and talks with Tehran.

The American UN ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad agreed. While stating the view that Iran’s acquisition of nuclear weapons would be “unacceptable,” he stressed:"We're in the phase of diplomacy; we want a diplomatic settlement of this issue. The ball is frankly in Iran's court."

DEBKAfile’s political sources comment that if a reported air maneuver simulating an attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities raised so much international, financial and military dust, how much more extreme would the world response be to a real attack.

The Greek Air force confirmed its participation in the Israeli military exercise held three weeks ago, but did not confirm the claim by Washington officials that it was a rehearsal for a potential attack on Iran. The Greek source stated no ground targets were involved as the drill was mainly aimed at personnel training. It was the first large-scale exercise between Israel and the air force of Greece, a member of NATO.

UP to 40 Israeli Air force F-15 and F-16 warplanes were based at the Greek Air Force Station at Souda on the southern Mediterranean island of Crete for the duration of the exercise, said the source.

20080619

Intelligence agencies in the United States and Canada are warning of mounting signs that Hezbollah, backed by Iran, is poised to mount a terror attack against "Jewish targets" somewhere outside the Middle East.

Intelligence officials tell ABC News the group has activated suspected "sleeper cells" in Canada and key operatives have been tracked moving outside the group's Lebanon base to Canada, Europe and Africa.

Officials say Hezbollah is seeking revenge for the February assassination of Hezbollah's military commander, Imad Mugniyah, killed by a car bomb in Damascus, Syria.

Mugniyah is believed by Israel to have been involved in planning the 1992 bombing of Israel's embassy in Argentina in which 29 people were killed and the blast at a Buenos Aires Jewish center two years later that killed 95.

The Hizbullah commander was also involved in numerous terror attacks onIsrael's border with Lebanon, including the kidnapping of Israeli soldiers Benny Avraham, Adi Avitan and Omar Souad, and apparently also the abduction of Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser. (YNet News)

20080616

"How Free is the University" symposium at University of Southern California. American Freedom Alliance's team (headed by Avi Davis) organized prominent experts and academics to address a growing antipathy toward anything or anyone in Western academic institutions not subscribing to a liberal political-worldview. This includes faculty, administration, and students, all of which were represented at the symposium, including Middle East Forum Dr. Daniel Pipes, The Investigative Project's Steven Emerson, radio personalities Hugh Hewitt, Dennis Prager, MEMRI Executive Director, Yigal Carmon; ZOA's attorney in UCI anti-Semitism case, Susan Tuchman, Campus Watch's Cinnamon Stillwell, and Freedom Center's, David Horowitz.

New cast-addition to FoxTV's "24" series, actor Jon Voight encourages the public to understand the "grace under fire" of the Israel he knows & loves.

At the celebrity-studded 23rd Israel Film Festival Gala in Hollywood, Academy-award winning actor, Jon Voight, spoke candidly about his experience of the true character of the 60-year-old State of Israel.

Recently-returned from a visit to Israel for its 60th birthday, Mr. Voight feels that Israel has borne the brunt of the mainstream-media's misunderstanding of Islamist imperialism's rejection of an autonomous, Jewish-led democracy in a region dominated by Islamic supremacism.

The true nature of Israel and its challenges- which Mr. Voight has experienced first-hand- isn't accurately presented by mainstream news-reportage, he asserts.

To obtain a truer understanding, he encourages people to visit Israel themselves- or begin by viewing some of the Israeli films featured in the Festival.

The Israel Film Festival would run in Los Angeles from June 11-26, in New York from Nov 5-20, and in Miami from December 10-18.

20080612

Dr. Mordechai Kedar of Tel Aviv's Bar-Ilan University (Department of Arabic Studies) defends the Jewishness of Jerusalem, the Jewish capital for over 3,000 years, against challenge on Al Jazeera TV.

He also defends the right of Israelis to settle in Judea and Samaria (the West Bank) based on international law. He also dismisses the misconception that the land is in any way sovereign Arab or Palestinian land 'occupied' by Israel.

20080609

A vision for maintaining Jewish destiny in Israel which relies on maintaining the contiguity of the Land of Israel, including Judea and Samaria, the historical heritage of Judaism, professes Rabbi David Algazi. (Another DemoCastTV-filmed, exclusive video story).

20080605

Sen. Hillary Clinton asserts how it is in America's own best interest to maintain strong, favorable support for Israel - and in helping to assure her security against those who seek her harm.(Courtesies to AIPAC, ShalomTV and Leon and Karen Sutton).

20080602

Tens of thousands of gentiles and Jews united to marched up Fifth Avenue on Sunday in the annual Salute to Israel Parade celebrating the 1948 founding of the Jewish state. Parade Grand Marshalls inclded actress Lainie Kazan, Broadway's "Golda's Balcony" star, Valerie Harper, Ron Rifkin, and television actor, Richard Hand. Organizers called it the largest gathering of Jews outside of Israel. Marchers lauded Israel's accomplishments in science, technology, innovation, social and spiritual quality of society.